MOSCOW, September 28 (RAPSI) – An arrest warrant has been issued for former Director of the WADA-accredited Moscow Laboratory Gregory Rodchenkov in absentia, spokesperson for Moscow’s Basmanny District Court Yunona Tsareva told RAPSI on Thursday.

Rodchenkov has been charged with abuse of office, she added.

In May 2016, The New York Times published an article citing Rodchenkov, who maintained that at least 15 Russian athletes winning gold medals in Sochi were involved in a Russian “doping program” aimed to dominate its home Olympics.

Earlier, the Investigative Committee of Russia announced that Rodchenkov, who had fled to the U.S., was unlawfully selling prohibited medicines and deliberately destroyed doping tests of Russian athletes.

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